NSA spying on world leaders draws ire

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For months the Obama administration has been playing defense on the NSA spying programs. After the initial media kerfuffle, President Obama claimed he was unaware the NSA was listening to German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s private cell phone. That revelation prompted a heated phone call from Ms. Merkel and soured the friendship.

Unfortunately, Americans learned that the NSA eavesdropping program would be handled just like other scandals; IRS targeting, drone attacks in sovereign nations and the 9/11 Benghazi terror attacks, the president simply passed on the responsibility and claimed he learned about the scandals from the press.

As a result, many Americans are scratching their head and asking if the president is really engaged with his cabinet members, or if he is paying more attention to reality TV? Fueling that fire is a Barbara Walter’s “View” interview where the president showed he was well versed concerning the Kardashians. Joy Behar asked the president which Kardashian was only married for 72 days? “That would be Kim,” he laughed.

Setting the softball interview aside, after a five-year honeymoon the White House press corps is asking tougher questions about serious matters like spying on America’s allies.

“We are not going to comment publicly on every specified alleged intelligence activity, and as a matter of policy, we have made clear that the United States gathers foreign intelligence of the type gathered by all nations,” White House Press Secretary Jay Carney said at a White House press briefing. “As I mentioned yesterday, the president spoke with Chancellor Merkel, reassured her that the United States is not and will not monitor the chancellor’s communications.”

In addition, the Wall Street Journal cited unnamed U.S. sources that the Obama did not know about the high-level spying and that it wasn’t until the White House launched an internal review of NSA’s eavesdropping program. The findings prompted President Obama to address the spying brouhaha and declare he was “going to take steps to put in greater oversight.”

Backing up the president’s assertion of innocence was former NSA director under George W. Bush, General Mike Hayden. On CBS’s “Face the Nation,” General Hayden refused to discuss the latest NSA scandal, but admitted the NSA surveillance on foreign leaders is standard operating procedure. Hayden went on to say he accepted President Obama’s statements that he didn’t know about the foreign spying and said the fact that White House officials didn’t inform Obama long ago proves that “this (action) wasn’t exceptional.”

Based on his agency experience, Hayden explained the recent NSA spying revelations were most likely necessary to prevent a blind side at a United Nations meeting. Hayden also referred to Germany’s strong anti-war stance regarding the Libyan conflict as a reason to spy on one’s allies.